Rapper Soulja Boy leaves Twitter?--Kelsey Jones

He has long been criticized by both hip hop fans and other artists, and perhaps today, 19-year-old rapper Soulja Boy has had enough. He deleted his twitter account after a trending topic #ifsouljaboysarapper became very popular, rising to the second highest topic. Many joined in on the public criticism openly with posts such as this one from @KineticalDummy that says "

#IfSouljaBoysARapper Then Taylor Swift Has Got One of the Best Videos Of All Time," which was retweeted over 100 times. @iLatrell said "#IfSouljaBoysARapper bill clinton did not have sexual relations with that woman."

The fact that the rapper deleted his account has drawn even more negative criticism his way. Some feel he is a cry baby or a "punk" for not being man enough to take negativity. @TheRealRetro_D wrote "by deleting his twitter over a TT (trending topic) soulja boy really did show dat he was a pu**y #realtalk." Many others are chiming in with the same idea saying that he should not let what other people say affect him personally.

And while there are so many Soulja Boy haters, there are just as many Soulja Boy fans. Hundreds have stood for Soulja Boy defending him and his rapping. @aliciagholston2 wrote in all caps "YOU GUYS MADE SOULJA BOY DELETE. STFU IF U DONT HAVE ANYTHING NICE TO SAY DONT F***ING SAY IT ITS PATHETIC TO PUT HIM DOWN." Others are not necessarily Soulja Boy fans and don't technically defend him but they do give him a bit of respect by saying positive things about his career. @RonaldRainer wrote "Everyone dissing Soulja Boy and his bank account run circles around your families..combined."

Whether you are a Soulja Boy fan or not, there are many weighing in on the topic of boy his rapping abilities and the deleting of the page. As of now there is no more Soulja Boy on twitter, however many think it is likely he will return.

UPDATE: 6/28/2010

Today rapper Soulja Boy returned to twitter claiming that deleting his account was a joke and a part of his "genius" plan. What exactly was the framework of the plan is still unknown. Perhaps it is safe to assume that it was a coincidence that he deleted his twitter account at the same time there was a negative trending topic about him.

My Thoughts on Ciara's Vibe Photo---Oct.12, 2008

I am very upset and confused. I love to see talented black women doing their thing without having to cross the lines and use their bodies in order to get ahead. It proves to the world that black women are not stereotypical whores or stupid. That we do have something going for ourselves. I was proud of Ciara coming out as an artist who could maintain sexiness along with class, however her new photo on Vibe Magazine disgusts me. Why do women feel that sometime they have to fit into what mainstream want to see? Its a man's world, but doesn't mean you have to live by their rules. Why pose butt ass naked on a *PUBLIC* magazine! Little girls who look up to her and respect her can see it. What are they supposed to think?? Keep it real until that doesn't work anymore then strip all your clothes off? I think that the black woman's body is beautiful and I am all for art. I have takin almost nude pics when i was pregnant, however I didn't find the cover to be artistic in any form or fashion. If anything it was embarassing. I don't care if they did airbrush her underwear, I know they must have shown her or her people what the cover would look like. If you want to be naked go to playboy not a hip hop magazine. Not if your past reputation shows you not to be that type of person. I might understand lil Kim or somebody, but not Ciara. I was proud that she could come out and not have to get but ass naked just to make it in the industry. She has lost a lot of respect from me and many other black women. I'm not hating just expressing my opinion. Hopefully we won't see anymore of this from her.

Twitter Beef---Sept. 8, 2009

Many probably don't realize that Twitter is a great source of news because you can't get it in real time. Latest breaking story involves Brooklyn rapper Fabulous (@myfabulouslife) and singer Tpain (@darealerstTpain). Well according to Fabulous' tweet, Tpain made a comment dissing Jay-Z and himself. Here's the exact quote from Fabulous' page.

"Jus heard Tpain says Fuck JayZ & Fuck Fabolous too over Twitter... Ok, now me & my twiggas/Street Twitter Ditta Dam must go in on him!...Oh yeah Tpain??? i think i hav 2 go in on this nigga...."

Now Fabulous is attempting to start a trending topic on the site titled #tpainbetter where he is dissing the singer at this moment. Fans are outraged as well as they begin to diss the singer and support Fabulous. Although I went through all of Tpain's tweets, I could not find any evidence of Fabulous' claims he said. This leads me to the question of whether this is strictly based on hear-say. Well it turns out it is hear-say. Fabulouse discovered that it was not Tpain who said it, but a fake Tpain twitter page and he apologized saying he read a tweet and went with it before checking it out for himself. Have entertainers and twitter gone too far? It's not only celebs duking it out online, many everyday tweeters have confrontations on a daily basis. I mean is it that serious to have "Twitter Beef?"

You be the judge.

Famed Black and Homosexual Author E. Lynn Harris Dead at 54 By Kelsey Jones

He was often seen as a writer of excellence and his books brought to the light the secret lives of bisexual me. Openly gay author E. Lynn Harris died Thursday, July 23, at age 54 from an unknown cause after doctors attempted to revive him.

Some of his popular novels were I Say A Little Prayer, A Love of My Own, and most recently, Basketball Jones that tells the story of a professional athlete and his affair with another man. All of his novels shared the common themes of love, bravery, and inspiration.

Harris attracted readers to his vivid and sometimes graphic tales that explored the difficulty of prominent bisexual black men (or men on the down-low) coming to terms with their own sexual identity while continuing relationships with women.

Harris was in denial of being homosexual for years as he also pursued heterosexual relationships. He believes his real-life experiences are what led to his novels authenticity and success.

In a 2003 interview with the New York Times, Harris told the reporter, “There was no category for someone like me who wanted everything I saw on TV and who wanted everything I thought the world wanted for me — a relationship with someone, a home, to achieve a certain degree of the American dream.”

Tiny and Toya Show --->What the Viewers are Saying on Twitter by Kelsey Jones

Black Entertainment Television (BET) is not known for having the best shows, however their new reality hit, Tiny and Toya, is catching a lot of attention. Tameka (Tiny) Cottle and Altonia (Toya) Johnson-Carter star in the BET's reality series that showcases their lives as being the "Baby Mamas" of famous rappers TI and Lil Wayne.

Tiny is no doubt the baby mother and possible wife of TI and Toya is the ex-wife and first love of rapper Lil Wayne. Toya struggles to find and identity as other than Lil Wayne's baby mama, and Toya fights with the fact she is going to be the head of the household as TI enters into prison.

The advertisements for this show were played over and over throughout the BET Awards commercial breaks, which was a great tactic by BET marketing because many had not heard of the show until then. Tweeters quickly criticized the show saying it looked as if it were going to be ignorant and ghetto.

Much of the criticism was focused on Tiny and her appearance and speech, but since the show has aired, some seem to love her and her overall personality. @Dani_Eve tweeted that she watches Tiny and wrote "tiny is cool as hell!!! I love her she just a female version of tip!! She aint that bad look[ing]."

And although a few are tweeting the show is stupid, ghetto or they are only watching because they are bored, many are giving great reviews of the show:

@missPrincessMi: Layn in the bed watchin tiny and toya show its actually interesting
@EmelieAlsen: Watching Tiny & Toya, I like it!:)
@mzcharday: loving the Tiny N Toya show! BET has the best reality shows!
@forrealyo: Let me woman up & admit: I like 2 watch Tiny & Toya AND Kendra. They should be guilty pleasures but I don't feel guilty watching em :^)

Various tweeters refuse to watch the show as well as any programs shown on BET. @curtistemplejr tweeted "Tiny & Toya: the epitome of everything that's wrong with BET. Let the network boycott continue!" @loveesyouuuh tweeted @106andpark writing "...the damn tiny & toya show. stupid stupid. so dumb and a waste of time." And believing the show will hurt the image of black women @LouboutinDOM12 wrote "Boycott Tiny&Toya. The more u watch JUNK LIKE THAT, the more you'll see the decline in Black Women in POWER smh."

Obviously there are mixed reviews, however after viewing most of the tweets on twitter about the show, it's easily noticeable that there are more positive reviews than negative ones. Does that say something about the black community as a whole, or is it possible that many genuinely like and can relate to these two ladies? You be the judge.

Source: www.twitter.com (search tiny toya)

Black Women aren't Born Mean, You made us this way

For years it has been said that women of color, or black women, have what many call an "attitude problem." They say we roll our eyes, swirve our necks, and suck our teethe. Well this may be true for some if not most black women. However I do believe that the stereotype is just that, a stereotype. It is no fact that all black women have attitudes and honestly the definition of an attitude may vary among different people. Yes we can be mean sometime. Yes we can be short and unpatient, however, we are not born this way, we are made this way. Black men have walked all over us for decades. They've cheated on us, beat on us, and disrespected us. After a while we grew smarter and realized that we didn't have to put up with that. We learned to speak up, but we knew we couldn't speak in a gentle tone. We had to put some fire in words and speach. We had to appear and sound fierce. After so many years of being let down and losing trust in our men and this world alone, we realized we had to make it our way or not make it at all. So we stopped asking for respect, we demanded it, and if we didn't get it we weren't scared to tell you how we felt and leave your ass. We didn't asked to be treated kindly and fair, we demanded it. It was the only way we could get them to listen. It's a damn shame that we had to get like this for them to understand that we're not taking in bull, but oh well. We were all born sweet women willing to do anything for that special guy until that special guy stepped all over us time and time again. So we're tired of being stepped on so we put on our new face, our "attitudes" But always remember, we were not born like this we were made this way!

Black Men Are Hard Headed!

I love my race. I mean I really do. I love black men. I feel, however, that we are losing to many of our men to childish and stupid nonsense. When I say "losing" I'm not strictly referring to death. I mean we are losing them to society. Their minds are being lost. Many of them have simply accepted the statistics given. "Well I'mma either die or be in jail by the time I'm 24 anyway." That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Why would you want to become a statistic? Don't you want to separate yourself from that stereotype that black men can't and will never amount to anything? Here's another one I hear. I ask "why do you steal, sell drugs, etc?" "Well," they will begin, "I mean I can't do nothin' else. This all I know. I wasn't born rich, I gotta make it the only way I know how. I'm tryna get to the paper shawty." LMAO! Seriously?? So when I hear this I just want to slap a black man. I mean really, you'd rather risk imprisonment and ruining (or losing) your life because you feel that's what you "have" to do? Black men say they can't do anything else because they have become lazy and comfortable in thier ghetto settings and lifestyles that they aren't willing or don't want to learn how to do anything else. It's the only thing you know because you have become a follower and not a leader and have decided that that is all that you want to know to do. Hell, most black people aren't born rich. Most are born in poor areas too and don't have the benefits of richy white areas, but I feel that is a small obstacle that can stop you only if you let it. Lastly, I hate when black men always talk about money, cheese, the "paper". First of all, you can't take none of that with you when you die. They have become so obessed with materialistic things. It's no longer about self-worth. Black men have sold their souls for paper. I mean they will do anything for it from turn on and hurt their own people, to facing long term prison sentences, to even putting their own life on the line. It's stupid. Okay so now I have given this long speech on what's wrong with black men. Some will read this and agree with me. That's all good, but tryign giving this same speech to a young black man. It goes in one ear and out the other. I'm telling you I have tried plenty of times. Mostly I try and get through to my younger brother who was just released from prision and is currently serving time in a diversion center or probation home. He's only 18 and has been to jail three times. Before he wasn't even arrested I used to preach to him about how it's not cool breaking the law and trying to act hard and be like everyone else. Hell, it's already hard out here for a black man so why put more obstacles in your way? I mean it is hard trying to compete for a job, but trying competing as a black man with a jail record! I guarantee you it's not easy. It's not impossible, but definetely not easy. When you try and tell them that they don't have to be a statistic or that they don't have to follow the trends, they give you bull like you don't know what it's like and it's how it has to be because school aint for everybody or I can't work no 9 to 5. They don't listen! It's like what do I have to do to get through to you. I mean even after they've been imprisoned, they still don't learn. Even after some are faced with near death they still don't learn. What does it take to get to these hard headed men that they are hurting themselves and the entire black race?